Bears paying visits to Issaquah neighborhood
Published 11:10 am Monday, July 7, 2014
When residents of the Overdale Park area of Issaquah held a recent meeting/block party, they expected a good crowd. What they didn’t expect was a visit by a black bear.
“He actually went walking down the side of my house,” said resident Julie DelMissier, who quickly got about 20 children into the safety of her house as 30-40 parents “came flying over to make sure their kids were safe.”
DelMissier has seen the same bear about four times in the past week, wandering through side yards and backyards and foraging in garbage containers for food.
Several days earlier, DelMissier was having a picnic on her front lawn with neighbor, Ingrid Abdelnour, when Abdelnour’s two-year-old son pointed in the air and said “dragonfly, dragonfly.” DelMissier’s seven-year-old daughter then chimed in, but with “bear, bear!”
“I thought she was joking,” DelMissier said, “but I looked over and saw a very shiny black furry bear walking down my driveway. I said as calmly as I could, ‘everyone walk to my front door and get inside.'”
DelMissier, a photographer, then quickly grabbed a camera and took off on foot after the bear. She was about 30 feet away when the took the photo of the bear by the garbage can.
“Then I got a little scared when he stood up and looked at me, so I slowly walked back inside.”
Seeing wildlife is a normal occurrence in the area, DelMissier said, noting that her home has floor-to-ceiling windows. About two weeks ago, her son, Tripp, said, “Uh Mom….. There is a bear at the front door.”
The bear – different and larger than the one at the homeowners’ meeting – eventually left, heading down Black Nugget Road.
